Despite difficulties, the Blazers forward still hopes for a possible playoff push

The Portland Trail Blazers haven’t been particularly good this season. They sit 13th in the Western Conference standings. They are 4.5 games behind 10th place, the final play-in spot.

It looks like the Blazers will be sold at the trade deadline next month. Teams are already circling Jerami Grant to see how much it will take to get in on a trade. Anfernee Simons could also be on the move at the right price. Honestly, there aren’t many players who should be untouchable.

However, players and coaches around the team still hold out hope that they can make it to the playoffs. That’s a very lofty goal since they just started a five-game road trip in which they lost their first game to the Lakers. They have four games left against the Bucks, Pistons, Pelicans and Mavs.

The players remain committed to the goal of reaching the playoffs. Toumani Camara still believes they can do it.

“I can see after this practice that everyone still has a good head on their shoulders,” Camara said. “I mean, we still have a lot of basketball to play. So we try to stay motivated. Stay positive. I think everyone is doing well at the moment.”

Since these players are all professionals, it stands to reason that they still have the goal of winning as many games as possible. They also can’t be expected to play well enough in the next few months to seriously make the playoffs.

Not only would it be foolish to expect this, it would also be foolish for the franchise to want this. They would be in a better situation if they continued losing games to increase their lottery chances. Signing Cooper Flagg is their best chance to turn the fortunes of the franchise around.

If this five-game road trip continues to go poorly, Portland could be in for a sellout. This could be the final nail in the coffin of their season. That would leave them figuring out how much they can get for some of their most valuable assets, including Jerami Grant.

In other Trail Blazers news: Blazers’ Anfernee Simons makes history in Portland despite recent loss

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